Representatives for technology giant Apple Inc. revealed the new iPhone 5 Wednesday at a presentation at the Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco. The new smartphone boasts several upgrades from its predecessor, the iPhone 4S, which released in October.

The iPhone 5 is slated to make its grand entrance into the hands of the public on Sept. 21 with preorders beginning Friday at midnight. The phone offers an 18 percent thinner and 20 percent lighter body than the 4S. It also has a larger screen, 4G LTE capability, 4-inch retina display, widescreen display, updated 8 megapixel front and back cameras, better battery life, an additional microphone and an A6 processor that blazes past the 4S at twice the speed, according to Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing Phil Schiller in a press release from Apple Wednesday.

And don’t worry, Siri hasn’t gone anywhere. It has made some improvements as well, such as the ability to read off sports scores and post updates to social networking sites.

As the case is with all hyped Apple products, it is up to the consumer to decide if the improvements are worth forking over more than a few hundred dollars. The retail price for the 16GB iPhone 5 is set for $199, with the 32GB selling for $299 and the 64GB for $399. Without a two-year phone carrier contract, the price jumps to $649 and up.

Shea Molinar, a fourth-year in human development and family science, said she is content with her 4S and doesn’t feel the need for an upgrade already.

“I probably won’t (upgrade),” Molinar said. “I’m not going to pay hundreds of dollars (for the 5). I guess I don’t know why it would be worth that much money when this works fine.”

The new perks also aren’t enough to convince Lisa Combs, a first-year in political science, to buy the new phone.

“I don’t really see a difference except for the bigger screen and it’s thinner,” Combs said. “I heard it has a longer battery life, but I heard there’s no other difference than that. I probably won’t buy it until the price goes down.”

However, other students said they can’t resist the appeal of yet another new toy from Apple.

Lawrence Stacey, a first-year in biology, said he stuck with his iPhone 4 and resisted the 4S in anticipation for the release of the iPhone 5.

“I’ve always been an Apple guy,” Stacey said, adding that the price tag on the iPhone 5 won’t sway him from purchasing it.

“I like the bigger screen and the brighter display. The LTE instead of 3G definitely,” Stacey said. “I don’t really have an issue with the price so much. It is expensive but it’s not something I wouldn’t spend for an Apple product.”

With each new innovation in technology and most new gadgets there comes differing opinions regarding what is worthy of people’s money.

“I don’t really see the value per dollar in paying the extra money for this Apple lifestyle,” said Rick Casebolt, a subject matter expert at the Buckeye Bar IT service desk, located in the William Oxley Thompson Memorial Library. “It’s a newer iPhone, but it’s not really anything that new. If I were into iPhones, I would probably pass on the 5 and wait for the 5s, or the 6 or whatever the next one after the 5 will be.”

College students on a budget have the option of dodging the allure of the shiny new model and still joining the iPhone family. Retailers will offer the iPhone 4S for $99 and the 2010 iPhone 4 for free with a new contract.

Casebolt, an Android owner, said he doesn’t see the need for the constant release of new cellphone models in any brand.

“I don’t really know how much more you can get a smartphone to do at this point,” Casebolt said.